Queens Man Who Aided Al Qaeda Released Early

Junaid Babar had testified against terror group in several trials

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In this artist's sketch, Mohamed Junaid Babar testifies at the trial of Momin Khawaja in an Ottawa courtroom on Monday, June 23, 2008. More than four years after Khawaja's arrest, the trial begins for his alleged role in an international plot by Islamic extremists to bomb targets in Britain. Khawaja, a 29-year-old Canadian-born software developer, is the first man to be charged under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Tammy Hoy)

A Queens man who confessed to helping Al Qaeda and then testified against the terror group has been quietly released from prison, federal court documents show.

Mohammed Junaid Babar, a Pakistani American who grew up in Queens, was freed in December after serving almost five years in prison, documents say.

In December, he was sentenced to time served and let go due to his cooperation, according to published reports.

Babar had been arrested in June 2004 while headed to taxi-driving school in Long Island City. He pleaded guilty later that year to helping terrorists and then began cooperating with authorities.

He confessed in Manhattan Federal Court that he had smuggled money, night vision goggles and other military gear to a senior Qaeda leader in Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan, reported the New York Times.

Among his other admissions: purchasing ingredients that could be used for explosives; organizing a training camp for Islamic terrorists; and helping with plot to blow up pubs, train stations and restaurants in Britain.

He had faced 30 years to life in prison but struck a deal to cooperate, going on to testify against Al Qaeda at various trials, including the London case on the 2005 transit bombings, which killed 56 people.